Brewha wrote:DMV, many people here have taught me a thing or two. Particular about the law and law enforcement - because they were LEO's and I'm just an engineer.
You have a problem with EV's? try me out. This kind of tech is my field.
I'm not opposed to EV's at all. What I am opposed to is government intervention into a subsidy that taxpayers have to pay for to make it viable. Same thing is happening with EV's that happened with ethanol. Both cannot survive without the money taxpayers on the hook. EV's have a place but to scrap the existing manufacturing processes for cars, trucks and petroleum industry just because...hell no. The "science" shows that the planet isn't going to melt away any time soon despite the media's best efforts. Even if it was...nations like China, India, Pakistan and Russia won't be making effective changes until 2060. Shuttering our auto plants with a 30+ year window debilitates us as a nation even militarily.
Where I have a problem with it is in the right here and now. My needs are not going to be changing. We have horses and wildlife. They will need to be transported. That little Rivian toy isn't even up for going more than 200 miles on its own so I'm not going to "do the math" with a 30 foot 3 horse slant with living quarters trailer and 3 horses being towed by a F250 now. There are no stations that would allow that kind of rig to wheel up and charge and even if there were you and I both know that some dip$hit in a Tesla would take that space up in a heartbeat.
Then there are the homes that cannot and will not support an EV charger being added to it. The entire house would have to be rewired and that's tens of thousands for that before we ever get to the station and the car. We can quibble about what's powering the homes grid...for me its a coal plant. They're not shutting that off any time soon. They're not even talking about building a new nuclear power plant either. So all the talk about green ends right there for me. All you're doing is overburdening a grid that washes out when we have a bad lightning storm much worse when it's a Cat 1 hurricane. Cat 5...it doesn't matter, it's all going bye bye. So adding more...with the demand of EV's and their charging needs...a LOT more. Its not being thought out by the smartest people in the room at all. This (what's going on right now) reminds me of the Elmer Fudd cartoon where he's hunting a fly with a shotgun. Shooting the place up to the point there's no walls or ceiling and the fly...buzzes around him after the dust clears.
I'm more practical and cost effective when it comes to my personal spending. I buy and pay off my vehicles. My truck was brand new in 2011 and it's still running just fine. My trailers are paid for. My house is paid for. I just bought my wife her dream vehicle and it was a 2020 Jeep with less than 20K miles on it. I don't want to go into debt for the sake of saving the planet, which I cannot. Neither can you. Nor your kids. I'm quite positive that there will be another ice age before the place melts away. So, as you can see the EV isn't practical for me. I DGAF about being in a little car that doesn't make a noise starting up. I DGAF about being the fastest off the line because performance to me is longevity not finish line. I've been knee deep with GM and their electrical platforms in the late 80's and 90's. Worked in their engineering departments and design laboratories as well as their test tracks in Mesa, AZ and Milford, MI. They couldn't get it to work then. Now, Uncle Sam is giving them a subsidy and incentive to fail for free. It's still so experimental that I laugh when people talk all serious about no gasoline stations in 2030. Um...they're still going to be there. The sale of a new car in their locale isn't. That's the only difference. I see those goalposts moving back...and again...and again if not ripped out.
If I could be King of the County for a hot decade...I would really think about bullet trains with stations that are viable. Meaning that once you reach a station you could walk a few blocks and be at your destination. Buses with routes that are viable and EV's would be a virtue signal device or for local delivery. Nobody is talking about the bigger picture and that's signals to me that its going to fail. Not that I'm happy if it does. It means it wasn't thought out and we're paying again for the mistakes made by stupid people. I really hope the next time you see an article or YouTube that is opposed to your thinking that now you see where I'm coming from. Am I right? Maybe not. I know I'm not perfect. Understand that I've thought it out a few ways before I gab about it though. That goes for everything in my world. I'm using article that support my point of view or the experts for what I had thought to illustrate a point.